EUROPEAN COMPOST NETWORK
ECN e.V.

Network for Organic Resources and Biological Treatment

ECN E-BULLETIN No. 11_2024

21 November 2024

World Soil Day I Webinar I 5 December 2024 I 14:00 – 15:30

Healthy Soils with Compost – The Benefits of Compost use on Soil Organic Matter

Continuing our tradition from the last years, the ECN is excited to celebrate the World Soil Day on 5 December by organising a webinar.

Focusing on “Caring for Soils: Measure, Monitor, Manage”, the 2024 World Soil Day will highlight the vital role of accurate soil data in understanding our ecosystems and making sustainable decisions.

ECN will contribute with a webinar on the beneficial use of compost on soils, offering an opportunity to discuss ongoing negotiations on the Soil Monitoring Law. We will also welcome Professor Marco Grigatti from the University of Bologna, who will outline the long-term results of the application of compost in Italy, and we will present various EU projects that highlight the benefits of using compost to achieve healthy soils.

The final programme will be send out soon or available here! You can register here.

Heinrich Böll Foundation I Soil Atlas 2024

Desertification affects at least 13 Member States

The German Heinrich Böll Foundation has launched the 2024 Soil Atlas, which calls on the new European Parliament and Commission to "take soil health more seriously and put it at the heart of EU biodiversity and agriculture".

According to the organisation's president, Imme Scholz, intensive agriculture and the climate crisis are contributing to increasing desertification, which affects 13 member states, not only in the south but also in temperate and humid climates such as Bulgaria and Hungary. The 54-page report also looks at the potential downsides of soil carbon credits.

The Soil Atlas 2024 can be accessed here.

EU Policy Brief I 12 November 2024

Update on Soil monitoring and Resilience Directive

Currently, there is no EU-wide legislation specifically on soil, although many policy instruments relevant to soil protection are in place.

Under the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030, part of the European Green Deal, the European Commission presented a new EU soil strategy for 2030, with the aim of having all EU soil ecosystems in a healthy condition by 2050. To achieve this objective, on 5 July 2023 it tabled a proposal for a soil monitoring and resilience directive, laying down measures for monitoring and assessing soil health, based on a common definition of what constitutes healthy soil, for managing soils sustainably, and for tackling contaminated sites. While stakeholders agree on the need for a soil monitoring framework, some have raised concerns about the indicators chosen to describe and assess soil health, provisions on land take, the lack of a roadmap, plans and intermediate targets to achieve the overarching 2050 objective, application of the polluter pays principle, and funding available to support land owners and managers.

On 10 April 2024, the European Parliament adopted its position at first reading. The Council agreed its general approach on 17 June 2024. Trilogue negotiations have begun.

Please access the first edition on the 'EU Legislation in Progress' briefings here.

European Economic and Social Committee

Released of an Opinion “From waste plants to resource plants”

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) published in October an own-initiative Opinion on waste management.

In this document, the Committee calls for additional EU and national policies to improve waste separation and collection systems. It also strongly advocates for the recovery of nutrients through best-practice treatment, recycling and recovery to capture nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus or potassium. In this regard, it recommends to set recovery targets for phosphorus and nitrogen and to revise EU legislation that prohibits the use of recovered nutrients, for instance in organic farming. Finally, it stresses the need to create functional markets for recovered materials to ensure a level playing field for virgin and secondary materials across the EU and to avoid fragmented regulation at national level.

The document can be accessed here.

Carbon Removals Certification Framework (CRCF)

5th EU Expert Group on carbon removals

On 22 October, the Expert Group on carbon removals met to discuss the certification methodology currently developed by the European Commission on carbon farming. In the draft methodology, the use of compost and digestate is mentioned as an eligible activity that reduces emissions in soils. We will follow up with the Commission to see how this will be taken into account.

The presentation and the recordings can be accessed here.

Wieselburg, Austria I November 6-7

2nd Austrian Compost Congress

The 2nd Austrian Compost Congress took place in Wieselburg, Austria, on November 6-7, 2024, focusing on circular economy principles and high-quality compost production. The event, organized by the Austrian Compost & Biogas Association, provided a platform for industry professionals to exchange knowledge and network.

In her opening video, Federal Minister Leonore Gewessler highlighted the compost industry's crucial role in climate protection, emphasizing its contribution to the circular economy. Keynote speeches underscored the importance of promoting good compost quality. Paul Zarzer discussed new laws and regulations in the compost sector, with a focus on a significant amendment to the Compost Ordinance, which aims to improve sustainability.

Sessions addressed key topics, including improving biowaste collection, reducing microplastics, and compost’s role in carbon sequestration and soil fertility. Presentations showcased how composting helps combat the risks of climate change, such as increasing temperatures and extreme weather, by maintaining healthy soils.

The second day focused on the long-term benefits of compost in agriculture, demonstrating its positive impact on soil properties like water retention and porosity. Practitioners also shared their real-world experiences.

The congress was supported by several organizations, including the Province of Lower Austria, and was made possible through collaboration with multiple partners like ECN.

Further information: www.kompost-biogas.at

COP29

ISWA Declaration - Better Waste and Resource Management

The 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, more commonly known as COP29, was the 29th United Nations Climate Change conference. COP29 was held in Baku, Azerbaijan from 11 to 22 November, 2024.

The International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) has issued a declaration for COP29, it's key messages for COP29 are:

the potential of sustainable waste management to address the three interlinked challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. With over 2 billion tons of municipal waste produced globally each year, a circular approach—emphasizing waste reduction, material recovery, and recycling—can curb emissions and reduce reliance on virgin resources.
Implementing sustainable design and business models further supports ecosystems while enhancing the effectiveness of waste management practices.

Additionally, ISWA highlights the critical role of organic waste management in curbing methane emissions, a powerful greenhouse gas. Diverting organic materials from landfills toward composting and biogas production not only mitigates emissions but also contributes to soil enrichment and renewable energy generation, fostering a resilient bioeconomy.

The full ISWA declaration can be accessed here

Interreg CORE I Update 11_2024

Five Good Practices on Biowaste Management of the 4th Thematic Seminar in Potsdam published

We are thrilled to announce that five of the Good Practices from our project CORE, presented during the last International Thematic Seminar, were approved! These practices are officially published and available online.

The focus of these Good Practices is "Good and Different Uses of Compost":

Use of compost in soil mixtures - Application in construction projects in South Tyrol
Good use of digestate-based products - Biogas and biofertilizers
Good and different use of compost and digestate-based products starts with a good plan
Aurora Climate Garden in Budapest - It all started with composting
Succesfull marketing of compost and digestate products

For a comprehensive overview of all the Good Practices we’ve gathered so far in the project, click here.

The Irish Environmental Protection Agency publishes report on plastics in compost

Identifying the Source and Scale of Plastic in Compost Derived from Household and Commercial Food Waste

The study conducted by Foster Environmental and Tony Breton Consulting evaluated the type and origin of impurities in separately collected bio-waste with a specific focus on plastics.

The core of the project was 50 biowaste characterisation studies. The methodology included a study of different types and origins of plastics as well as specific items (e.g., tea bags, fruit stickers, food condiment sachets). An interesting trend showed that in co-mingled collections (food waste and garden waste) showed higher levels of impurities (9.8%) than for food waste collections (5.8%). The average share of impurities in household bio-waste was 8.9%. Plastics ranged around 7% which is an increase of 3% from a study performed in 2018.

A set of 15 potential solutions were suggested to help reduce plastics in bio-waste, among others:

Expand awareness campaigns
Harmonisation of contamination policies
Establish a regulated feedstock quality control programme as well as a limit for total impurities of 3% and a maximum of 1% plastics, similar to the German Biowaste Ordinance
Encourage a food waste-only collection as it showed lower contamination than co-mingled collection

The report can be downloaded here: Link

LIFE BIOBEST project I Workshop in Portugal

Mastering Bio-Waste Collection and Treatment – Lessons from Portugal’s pioneers

With more than 100 participants on both workshops taking place on October 22 and 24, the LIFE BIOBEST project kicked-off a number of events in the next months. More than 100 participants learned from the project consortium about the guidelines published earlier this year, and from experiences local authorities shared on the implementation of separate collection of bio-waste.

The next workshop will take place in Pruszcz Gdański, Poland, on 26 November 2024. Registration is still open and more information on the workshop can be found here.

RAMIRAN 2025 I 15-17 October

Call for Abstracts for RAMIRAN 2025

RAMIRAN stands for “The Recycling of Agricultural, Municipal and Industrial Residues in Agriculture Network”. The conference will focus on the management of organic residues and manures in agriculture. In the context of climate change and environmental pressure, safe and sustainable utilisation of existing and emerging organic resources becomes increasingly important, as is taking into account potential trade-offs or synergies. The conference will address the many facets of their application in agriculture.

If you are interested in contributing, abstract submissions for the 2025 edition will open in December 2024. For more details you can check this website, sign up for the newsletter, or contact ramiran2025@wur.nl.

Events

Bad Hersfeld Biomass Forum I 26-27 November 2024

Exploiting the potential of Biowaste

The 16th Biomass Forum under the motto “Fully exploiting the potential of biowaste” will take place on November 26 and 27, 2024 in Bad Hersfeld - Stadthalle.

As part of the Biomass Forum, the most important results of the R & D project “ProBio - Investigations on the optimal production and plant-cultural utilization of biowaste and green waste compost in organic farming” will be presented in an overview on Wednesday, 27.11.2024.

The full programme in German can be accessed here.

USCC’s Compost Congress I 27-30 January 2025

COMPOST2025

The USCC’s Annual Conference and Tradeshow is the premiere professional meeting for composting, organics recycling, and related topics. It will take place in Phoenix, Arizona from January 27th-30th 2025. It is a premier networking event for the composting industry with 100+ exhibitors.

Click here for more information and to register!

S.O.S Save Organics in Soil

This international initiative S.O.S. SOIL – Save Organics in Soil, led by the European Compost Network (ECN) and the Italian Composting and Biogas Association (CIC), aims to highlight the importance of soil organic matter to encourage policy makers to develop instruments to move Europe towards implementing sustainable, climate proof soil management practices.

Sign the manifesto 'Save Organigs in Soil' here.